About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is dedicated to building sustainable ecosystems around open source projects to accelerate technology development and industry adoption.

Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation provides unparalleled support for open source communities through financial and intellectual resources, infrastructure, services, events, and training. Working together, The Linux Foundation and its projects form the most ambitious and successful investment in the creation of shared technology.

The World’s Most Important Open Source Software Project

Linux is the largest and most pervasive open source software project in history. It has seen massive acceptance in almost every sector, including financial services, government, education, and even film production.

Linux is also the operating system of choice to support cutting-edge technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and big data.

The Linux Foundation, the home of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and lead maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman, provides a neutral home where Linux kernel development can be protected and accelerated for years to come.

Linux is the operating system for over 95% of the top one million domains

More than 80% of new smartphones sold run Android, which is based on the Linux kernel

All of the top 500 supercomputers in the world run on Linux

Most of the global markets run on Linux, including the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, the London Exchange, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange

The majority of consumer electronics devices use Linux for its small footprint

More than 75% of cloud-enabled enterprises report using Linux as their primary cloud platform

More Than Linux

The Linux Foundation has taken its experience and expertise supporting the Linux community to help establish, build, and sustain some of the most critical open source technologies. Its work today extends far beyond Linux, fostering innovation in every layer of the software stack. The Linux Foundation hosts projects spanning enterprise IT, embedded systems, consumer electronics, cloud, networking, and more.

A few of these high-velocity projects that are helping redefine what’s possible include Hyperledger for cross-industry blockchain technologies; Automotive Grade Linux, the open software platform for automotive applications; the Open Network Automation Platform project (ONAP) for real-time, policy-driven software automation of virtual network functions; and Kubernetes, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation project for production-grade container orchestration.

Billions of Dollars of Shared Value

The collective value of the code in Linux Foundation projects is estimated at roughly $16 billion, and it’s growing every day1. This code is the result of the work of thousands of developers encouraged by sustainable open source ecosystems, which attract the long-term support and investment of a diverse group of developers and organizations. As these communities grow, evolve and enjoy success, resources are funneled back into the further development of the projects for the benefit of all.

1 According to commonly accepted COCOMO model.

Over 1,000 Members

The Linux Foundation and its projects have more than 1,000 corporate members across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA, including companies that are leaders in the strategic use of open source. A few include AT&T, Cisco, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, Oracle, Qualcomm, and Samsung. With these and many others, from startups to mid-market companies to specialists in industries such as finance and healthcare, we’re driving innovation worldwide.

We also have thousands of individual supporters whose donations fund programs that help provide opportunities for underrepresented groups in technology and fund programs that develop the open source leaders of tomorrow.

Active involvement of the open source community in Linux Foundation projects, events, and training drives our growth. We invite you to learn more and get involved.